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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

'Primer' Director Shane Carruth To Direct A Big-Budget Action Movie, What The Hell Does That Mean?

What the what? I love Shane Carruth; I absolutely adored the former software engineer’s (a profession that makes total sense when you look
at his body of work) first two films, the esoteric sci-fi offerings
Primer and Upstream Color. Thus far in
his career he’s made tiny, microbudget films that take years to come together
and that you have to actively seek out if you want to see. But all that is
about to change.

According to Deadline, Carruth has signed with WME, one of
the biggest talent agencies in the business, and they’re going to help him put
together his next film, called The Modern Ocean. The film is
described as a “nautical action adventure” and will reportedly have a big
budget.

Carruth is a filmmaker who builds towers out of almost
nothing: Primer had a budget of $7000 and it’s still the
most intricate, twisted plot ever put on film; and Upstream
Color had a whopping, practically luxurious $50,000 to play with. I
can’t even imagine what a big-budget Shane Carruth action movie (that statement
feels counterintuitive) will look like. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be the first
person in line to see it, but I have no clue what to expect.

It’s also going to be strange because, with a bigger
production, he’s going to have less of a hand in every element. In his first
two films he wrote, directed, starred in, produced, edited,
distributed, and even wrote the damn music. With more going
on, he’s going to have less intimate control, he’s going to have to relinquish
at least some authority, and I’m curious to see what impact that has on the
finished product.